


Lightless Reunions

by glasscamellias



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Child Abandonment, Child Death, Family, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hugs, Sibling Bonding, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22261216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glasscamellias/pseuds/glasscamellias
Summary: The Knight finds something unexpected at the bottom of the Abyss.Well, someone. Many someones.
Relationships: Hornet & Siblings, Hornet & The Knight (Hollow Knight), The Knight & Siblings (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 316





	Lightless Reunions

The royal brand burned their back as the Knight opened the door to the Abyss. Cold, stale air wafted out. A spindly walkway led out into empty space.

They took tiny steps across the platform and finally stopped halfway. Ghost sat down heavily, before it could stop being a choice.

They had fallen here, once, for a very long time, down to the bottom. The door had shut far above as they fell into a pile of familiar bodies: some still squirming a little, masks cracking, the void evaporating around them. Hundreds, thousands. It had been hard enough finding a lone vessel, like in Greenpath and above in the Ancient Basin. They could sit beside those bodies for a little while, wiping dirt off limp cloaks and making little rock piles, like the graves they’d seen in Dirtmouth. They couldn’t do that for all of them.

Maybe there was a charm or some new magic at the bottom, something vital to saving their trapped, noble sibling, but they didn’t want to wade through the remains of all the rest.

Their legs shivered whenever they tried to stand, so they didn’t. They likely would fall if they navigated the platforms below like this. In an attempt at calm, they arranged charms and counted geo, but the void of their body was so unsteady that they could barely hold onto anything.

In the middle of stacking fifty-piece geo, their arm spasmed, and one fell over the side of the platform. At their best, they could have easily lunged to grab it, but it was gone before they could reach out. Shaking their head, they began to pack everything away before the rest could come to harm. Would they find it all the way at the bottom? They had to stop stalling.

A flash of white at the edge of the platform. A tiny black hand reached up. It was too familiar. Once, a very long time ago, it had been them clinging there, silently pleading for help that never came. ( _No, don’t blame Hollow, they were scared.)_ They took that hand, lifting a light body onto the platform.

A vessel stood there, even smaller than the Knight. In one triumphant hand, they clutched that piece of geo. They seemed so delighted to have caught it that, when they looked up, the sight of another vessel startled them. They looked from the Knight to the open doorway, and back again. With each look, they waved their arms, the geo a shining blur. They seemed so excited that they forgot to give it back.

And then the vessel jumped, plummeting out of sight before they could rush to the edge. They didn’t hear a fatal thump or crack, but maybe that meant they had fallen farther, dying too far away to hear. Had they found a survivor only to lose them immediately? The fog was too thick to see through, but they remembered the thorns it concealed, how they grew everywhere.

They followed without the caution this place demanded. Their wings flapped wildly to compensate for their frenzied jumps, trying to descend too quickly.

They landed with too much speed on too small of a platform. A foot slipped. Ghost fell.

And they didn’t wake up on a bench, or find themself almost shattered at the bottom. Arms clutched them close, a black carapace holding them. The cheek of their mask rubbed against soft cloth. It felt like Quirrel patting their head, but in a way that encompassed all of them. Held so securely, they barely registered the careful movement downward, until their rescuer had reached steady ground.

There was shuffling below them, rocks shifting underfoot, but they ignored it, focus centered on being held by someone moving gently back and forth, like waves atop a deep black ocean. They felt... safe? The kind of safe that only a bench had ever brought them. That embrace healed the minute fractures in their mask.

However, the noise below grew louder, and there was only so long they could bury their head against this familiar stranger. They looked down only to see the vessel from before, now climbing up a tall leg towards them and still clutching the dropped piece of geo. And below them, more vessels, dozens of them, a sea of horns and curious eyes and rounded hands. Many of them hopped in place or reached their arms out, and all of them were looking at Ghost.

Before the vessel could climb too high, their rescuer plucked them off, cradling Ghost in their other arm. They set the two of them down, and they were swarmed. Ghost could barely comprehend the scope of it all, freezing in place. Vessels hugged onto them, and others clutched onto their cloak, and anyone who couldn’t reach instead held their neighbors.

How were there so _many_? When Ghost had crawled from the Abyss themself, escaping through a tiny side passage, they had been surrounded by still bodies. They remembered the sound of bodies shattering against the rocks, and even now the ground they stood on was littered with mask shards. In crevices in the walls, less damaged masks were arranged in a sort of memorial display. A few survivors weren’t surprising, after the ones they had found before, but more and more kept approaching.

They could hear footsteps coming from either side, vessels drawn out by the noise. And some of them were _big._ The majority were Ghost’s size or a bit larger, but the one who had caught them towered over the others. They had outgrown their cloak, which only covered their upper abdomen, and pudgy limbs had become long and segmented. How had they become so big? Only a few others had grown so much, and they stepped carefully as they approached, mindful of smaller siblings.

More peeked out from side rooms or the shells of their old eggs, which weren’t so different than the houses in Dirtmouth. If anything, it looked _more_ like a town, with the locked door keeping the infection out.

And living vessels weren’t the whole of its population. A shade drifted down towards them while they were in the arms of several vessels, and they couldn’t easily dart away. They braced for an attack, but unlike their own vicious shade, this one merely watched from a safe distance. They looked curious, of all things, not aggressive. The other vessels treated their shade siblings just as they did with solid siblings, little hands “holding” wispy tendrils.

The last to reach out to them was the vessel still clutching the geo, but Ghost held them at a distance, looking for cracks or drips of void, any sign of injury. There was a long, faint crack that stretched halfway down the left side of their face, but it seemed like an old wound, with no pain or dripping void. Only then could they embrace their sibling, nuzzling against their shoulder.

-

Despite their collective silence, Ghost found it easy to communicate through gestures and little drawings on the back of their map and the hissing of void that all of them could hear, wordless but meaningful. Had others tried to leave, they said, gesturing towards the tiny passage they had used. The others said no, in their own ways—the big vessels were too big, or the air outside smelled bad so they came back, or they were too afraid to leave at all.

The Abyss was so heavy with void and joy that they could barely decide what to do with themself. They were tugged along from one sibling to another, gently knocking horns, touching hands, shuffled this way and that. There were so many faces to look at that, so many siblings to hold. The excitement bore them along, until they were swept towards a familiar, unfamiliar place.

A lightless ocean called to them, and Ghost began to stumble towards the shore of it. The world above had been an endless curiosity, but this was home, the void they had been born out of. They couldn’t return, not until they had completed their mission, but they wanted to touch it, to remember what was waiting for them...

A large vessel, the one who had caught them, scooped them up, as the surface of the ocean began to thrash _._ It seemed to form claws intent on dragging them in. They squirmed, trying to escape from the hold but unwilling to draw their nail against a sibling. Other vessels could safely paddle in it, and shades shifted in its depths; why couldn’t they?

Ghost sagged in their arms once they had left the room and that beautiful ocean was out of sight. They felt tired in a way deeper than battle exhaustion, and they lay limp.

Once the struggling stopped, they began to pet Ghost cautiously, running from the tip of a horn down to the base of their mask, and back up the opposite horn to complete a circuit. Each pass calmed them, until they clutched at their cloak and rested against their sibling’s abdomen. Everyone seemed to hold each other in the Abyss.

(They wished Hollow could have that too. Based on the height of their statue, they were probably too big to sweep up and cradle, but those long limbs could fit many small hugs instead, with someone to touch their head gently, or lay it across their lap. It must be so heavy to hold up, with those long horns.)

(Someday.)

As their sibling carried them along a row of eggshells, they could see vessels sleeping inside of them in piles. At the first empty one, they folded up their tall, tall body to fit inside, still clutching Ghost. Once they were both situated, they put a hand to Ghost’s back, stroking the King’s Brand through the fabric. They must have first seen it when catching them, and now they tapped it a few times for emphasis. _This is why the void acted that way._ It had felt the energy of a king who had tampered with and harmed the void.

How were they going to return to it, then? The King’s Brand had been more than worth it to open the Abyss, but to have the void itself reject them... Ghost curled up closer, like their body could meld into their sibling’s and disappear.

They didn’t typically sleep. Even on a bench, they could do no more than doze, ready for a threat to disturb them. It had always been enough for them. There was always a new secret, treasure, enemy to discover, and they didn’t _want_ to sleep.

But here, they could press close until their face pressed against their sibling’s chest, and everything became a peaceful black, the clattering footsteps outside fading. As they drifted away from conscious thought, they could feel more siblings curling up with them, little bodies beside their own.

-

In the unchanging Abyss, Ghost was a novelty. Yes, these vessels had made a seemingly happy life for themselves, and no doubt they had figured out ways to entertain each other, but there was only so much they could make or imagine in an unchanging world. Ghost was _new,_ in all sorts of ways. Everything they carried, even Geo, was exciting.

They passed their map over first. Hallownest could be theirs to explore, no longer the unknowable world they had been sacrificed for. The hunter’s journal and their charms next. Even their lantern, which they flinched away from before they recognized it as a soft light, not searing or sickly. Once one of them caught sight of the lumaflies instead, there was a lot of reverent patting as they passed it along.

When the map came back within arm’s reach, they took their quill and, under a captive audience, began to draw the shape of the Abyss, and the long passage down. _We are here_ , they gestured, and pointed up. _Out of here is the Basin_ , of course tapping that location. And then, pointing at a few vessels around them. Where did they want to go?

They had hoped eager hands would fall on different locations, but there was an uncomfortable stillness. They tapped at the Abyss and shook their heads, to say that they belonged here, and could not move. Their joy at the door opening had not been for an escape, just for a visitor. They would stay where the King had abandoned them.

It made the Knight feel heavy inside. The Abyss had been safe, for some of them, but there were green places too, and flowers, and rain, and Quirrel who gave them a pat on the head.

They took out a King’s Idol, and siblings flinched away from them, as if the token was truly the King, ready to discard them again.

What Lemm didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him or them, Ghost decided, and they brought the Idol down hard against the ground. It had been well-made, but a few blows against a sharpened rock soon snapped off the more delicate horns and spread cracks down its body. Very still, the vessels watched them render the depiction of the King into tiny, barely recognizable bits.

_The King is dead. He can’t punish you for going up._ They could have argued that they were King now and turned to reveal the brand to all of them, but their siblings didn’t need another authority figure.

One of the smallest vessels inched forward to look down at the shattered mess. Would there be an outcry, or as much of one as a mute crowd could make? Maybe some of them clung to the belief that Father was loving and would return for them if they became perfect. What if—

The vessel kicked at a larger fragment, sending it skittering along the floor.

Collectively, they did not move, staring at the idol, so easily desecrated. Even the aggressive little one seemed startled by their own defiance. Aside from the rustling of cloaks as a few embraced each other, it was silent. Again, Ghost pointed up, and now, some of them looked and seemed to consider it. When Ghost offered the map, their siblings reached for it with greater interest.

Very cautiously, as if it might reform itself, a taller sibling began to gather pieces into a ragged, discarded cloak. When Ghost cocked their head in confusion, they pointed from the bundle to the abandoned masks and back. A figure of him didn’t deserve to be among their remains, Ghost assumed.

While some of them were having arm-waving arguments over the map and what place looked best, Ghost and a small procession followed the tall sibling back to the void room. This time, multiple hands held them back as they watched them upend the bundle into the dark waters. Several shades drifted out to watch the void claw and bite those little white fragments, leaving nothing behind.

-

There were no nails in the Abyss.

(There was, however, a new charm and two improved spells. The Abyss Shriek had sent everyone into a shocked but excited frenzy, so they spent the last of their soul on a voice to cry joy.)

Some of them had armed themselves with sharp rocks or thorns broken off of the platforms, and others gestured to claws or horns. They had tried their best to learn, but the only threat had been the creepers, so there was only so much combat they could learn. It would have to be enough until Ghost could find some discarded nails for their siblings, and maybe lead them to a nailmaster or two.

Possibly they were getting ahead of themself, but they couldn’t help imagining all the nice things their siblings could have. Dirtmouth had plenty of abandoned homes, and they could meet Elderbug, and once they got used to weapons, they could explore!

Very, very used to weapons.

Eight vessels of various sizes were hugging their way through the siblings who would stay behind, at least for now. Some would likely stay in the Abyss, comforted by its familiarity, but many of them wanted to go, just... not immediately. They needed to adjust to an open door before ever walking through it. Once some of them could defend themselves, they would be able to return without needing Ghost.

There was a tug at their cloak, and when Ghost turned, that first vessel stood before them. In their little hand, they still clutched the piece of geo, now scratched from their play but still viable. Shuffling from foot to foot, they slowly offered it back to Ghost. This one wasn’t going to go with them.

The geo must have been so enthralling, something that shone with exciting ridges to touch, that clacked nicely against pebbles. Something to carry in a place that had almost nothing to offer. They raised their hand and pushed the geo back. There would always be more.

A little void seemed to swell from their eyes, but the time they had thoroughly embraced Ghost and pulled back, it was gone, and they joined the others to wave at the departing group.

Their ascent was slow and cautious, none pulling ahead too far. They could all remember the panicked fall, and each jump was considered carefully, with Ghost or one of the more agile siblings a platform ahead, hands out to catch them. As they climbed, their shade siblings floated along, spinning around in encouragement.

Up above, as the fog cleared, they could see a flash of red through the lattice of the walkway. Ghost gestured for them to halt, even though they had instinctively moved towards Hornet, the call of _Sister_ overriding all caution. Ghost could remember her standing at the body of a tiny vessel in Greenpath, and their affection for her wasn’t so big that they would stand by and let her kill more of them.

She made no move to draw her needle or jump down as Ghost reached the platform. She’d noticed them, but she did nothing but look them over.

“So, you’ve found the place of your birth. I must admit, I didn’t expect survivors. That so many of our siblings have survived truly speaks to the strength of the darkness in this place.”

She looked down again, and they could only think of how small the vessel in Greenpath had been, like a little mosscreep. Had they reached for her, expecting a protector, wanting to be held? And there were hundreds of the same below them, and no door to keep her out now. Their grip tightened on their nail, but they couldn’t remember drawing it. It didn’t escape her notice.

“You think I’ll kill them, don’t you?” They nodded, and they can hear the others shuffling, jumping down another platform. At that, Hornet hissed. “Stop, all of you. I am not here to harm you, and one of you will surely fall if you misstep in a panic.”

One-handed, they pull their map out and brandish it at her, pointing at Greenpath with the tip of their nail. “I won’t deny that one of our siblings has fallen to my hand, and that I tried to do the same to you. Ignorance will do none any good. Imagine the harm that would have stemmed from a weak vessel disturbing the seals and failing before completing the task.

“But you have proven yourself strong enough to bear this kingdom’s fate, so that is no longer my concern. If any of them fall to infection, I would consider my duty to give them a quick death, but otherwise, I will not hurt or kill any of them. That is my vow, siblings.”

She looked back down at the huddled group and, with the same grace she used to spear a husk or dart away on silk strands, she curtsied to them, head bowed low.

At Ghost’s beckoning, they began to climb again, and when they reached the platform, Hornet helped them up. After such a speech, they were wary but curious, wondering at a non-void creature that still smelled like family. One of the smallest stroked the hem of her cloak, likely entranced by the color. She endured it with a sigh and a pat to their head.

With that little bit of attention, the rest of them clustered around her, wanting her hesitant touch. Hornet sighed and hissed about it, but each had gotten a pat between their horns as she followed their little group through Ancient Basin, onto the tram, and to a stag station. They found a few discarded nails on the way, with brief pauses to practice grips and swing at rocks.

The stag grumbled an amused hello, careful not to shift and step on one of the vessels swarming him. His size didn’t seem to frighten them, though his speed might. To squish everyone into the seats, the tallest ones piled the rest onto their laps, until only Ghost had yet to climb aboard. They looked toward Hornet, wondering why she hadn’t dashed away already.

“Where will they be settling?” They showed her Dirtmouth and then waved their hand across the map, trying to say _for now_. She nodded, and as the stag thundered off, excited to have new passengers, Ghost saw her standing at the station until the path turned and left her out of sight.

Maybe Hornet would visit.

**Author's Note:**

> Ideally, by the end everyone is safe and happy, Hollow is freed and can recover in a pile of siblings, and the vessels repopulate Hallownest. 
> 
> Kind of difficult to wrangle hundreds of characters when only one has a name and everyone uses they/them. Hornet showing up was a relief, after all that.


End file.
